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Time period distinctions
There are various time periods that can be played within Gotham and Beyond. The most common are the Comic book time periods, which are usually categorized by the fact that a time period is considered within continuity or not. Marvel Universe Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with issues of Captain Britain, the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was designated Earth-616, and the multiverse was established as being protected by Merlyn. Each universe has a Captain Britain designated to protect its version of the British Isles. These protectors are collectively known as the Captain Britain Corps. This numerical notation was continued in the series Excalibur and other titles. Each universe of the Multiverse in Marvel also appears to be defended by a Sorcerer Supreme at nearly all times, appointed the mystic trinity of Vishanti to defend the world against threats primarily magical in nature from within and beyond and bearing the Eye of Agamotto. Later on, many writers would utilize and reshape the multiverse in titles such as Exiles, X-Man, and Ultimate Fantastic Four. New universes would also spin out of storylines involving time travelling characters such as Rachel Summers, Cable, and Bishop, as their actions rendered their home times alternate timelines. Below is a partial list of notable alternate worlds, and universes with known numerical designations. Beyond these, many other alternate worlds have been visited or explored in Marvel Comics. Most notably, almost every separate storyline of the What If... and Exiles series relates to a separate universe in the multiverse, although an occasional pair of issues in which characters and situations do not overlap could conceivably share a universe. The numerical designations for these are rarely revealed outside of reference works such as the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005. Project Pegasus also seems to possess vast knowledge of other realities in the Marvel Multiverse, ranging from alternate futures to parallel universes, as shown in the in-Marvel Earth-616 continuity files after the Sentry arc of the New Avengers, naming them by the official names Marvel use. This information is likely from A.R.M.O.R., another government organization. According to Forge, mutants living on these alternate Earths have lost their powers due to M-Day, as stated in Endangered Species, however, this mass depowering has not been seen in any of Marvel's current alternate reality publications such as Exiles, the Ultimate titles, Amazing Spider-Girl, the Marvel Adventures titles or GeNext, though it is possible that the issue of time may be related to their exclusion. This was apparently retconned during Messiah CompleX, where Forge stated that all mutants in possible future timelines were depowered, not in parallel universesX-Factor vol. 2 #25. Definitions The classification system for alternate realities was devised, in part, by Mark Gruenwald.http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/appalte.htm#Rulesę Universe/continuity A Universe/continuity is a single reality''Uni'' is the Latin prefix meaning "one"., such as Earth-616, the mainstream Marvel Universe/Continuity. Note that in Marvel Comics, the concept of a continuity is not the same as "dimension" or "universe"; for example, characters like Mephisto and Dormammu hail from alternate dimensions and the Celestials from another universe, but they all nevertheless belong to Earth-616. A continuity should also not be confused with an imprint; for example, while the titles of some imprints, such as Ultimate Marvel, take place in a different continuity, some or all publications in other imprints, such as Epic Comics, MAX, and Marvel UK, take place within the Earth-616 continuity. Note that in context the Marvel Universe is often used to refer to the Marvel Multiverse. Multiverse A Multiverse is the collection of alternate universes''Multi'' is the Latin prefix meaning "many"., with a similar nature and a universal hierarchy. The Marvel multiverse contains Earth-616, most of the What If? worlds, as well as the vast number of the alternate Earths seen in the Marvel Universe. The original term and concept were coined by Michael Moorcock for his "Eternal Champion" sequence. The lead characters from Moorcock's work are obviously the inspiration for the Captain Britain Corps. Megaverse There are certain universes which are tied to the Marvel multiverse - such as the New Universe and the Ultraverse - which do not share any open similarities to it, and thus are not strictly part of the larger universal hierarchy that forms the Marvel multiverse, but at the same time, are not so far removed that they existed in a separate multiverse''Mega'' is the Greek prefix meaning "great". The 21st century edition of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe posits the term Megaverse (although Marvel does not actually endorse the use of this term because of Trademark issues ) as the name for this larger grouping, though there is always the chance that some future publications will increase the interactions between different Multiverses, this is a fluid definition. Omniverse The omniverse is the collection of every single universe, multiverse, dimension (alternate or pocket) and realm''Omni'' is the Latin prefix meaning "all".. This includes not only Marvel Comics, but also DC Comics, Image, Dark Horse, Archie, Harvey, and every universe ever mentioned or seen (and an infinite amount never mentioned or seen) including our own world. Everything is in the Omniverse, and there is only one Omniverse. According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes, "It includes every single literary, television show, movie, urban legend, universe, realm, etc. ever. It includes everyone from Popeye to Rocky Balboa to Ronald Reagan to Romeo and Juliet to Luke Skywalker to Snoopy to Jay and Silent Bob, Mickey Mouse, etc." A good example of this could be the Kingdom Hearts series, where characters from Disney movies apear along with the heroes and foes of the Final Fantasy franchise. The term was coined by Mark Gruenwald in his fan publication, A Treatise on Reality in Comics Literature http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/tony/?frames=n;read=136187&expand=1, and was also the name of the fanzine that he published for two issues before being hired by Marvel. Alternate universes The numeric designations of these alternate universes have been confirmed by Marvel Comics throughout the years and compiled in 2005's Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes, and in Marvel publications since the release of the Handbook. The prevalent method of numbering a universe is to derive numbers in some way from the publication date of an issue relating to the universe, usually its first appearance. This is, in turn, based on the mistaken belief that "Earth-616" derived its number from the publication date of The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961). Pocket dimensions: universes within universes See also: List of Marvel Comics dimensions *'Avalon:' Also known as Otherworld. Home of Merlyn, Roma and the Captain Britain Corps. Based on the mythical "Avalon". *'Counter-Earth (Heroes Reborn):' A pocket dimension where Franklin Richards stored many of Earth's superheroes after the events surrounding the appearance of Onslaught. Doom saved Counter-Earth from the unstable pocket dimension, and placed it in an alternate orbit of the 616-Earth on the other side of the sun. *The Darkforce Dimension: The Darkforce's origin is unknown. Some stories suggest that it is actually matter from a parallel universe that may be accessed by mystical means. Connected characters include Cloak and Shroud. *'The Encroachiverses:' A series of universes deemed failures by extremely powerful, unnamed beings; includes the Dimension of Suicide, the Baloney-verse, the 976-verse, the Trashi-verse, the Don't-Worry-Be-Happy-verse, the Noriega-verse, the Narcissi-verse, the Media-verse, the Puppet-verse, and the Insipiverse. *'The Hill:' A dangerous pocket dimension used by Mikhail Rasputin after flooding the Morlock tunnels. Rasputin brought all Morlocks to The Hill to raise them in a survival of the fittest mentality. In this dimension time runs several times faster. While in 616 only 1 or 2 years passed more than ten years passed in the Hill. Marrow and the other Gene Nation members grew up in this dimension. *'Limbo:' Also known as "True Limbo" or "Temporal Limbo", Outside of time historically ruled by Immortus and the location to which Rom the Spaceknight banished the Dire Wraiths. *'The Microverse:' Originally, many microverses existed within the Marvel Multiverse. The most commonly visited is the one containing the regions known as Sub-Atomica and the Micronauts Homeworld. *The Mojoverse: A dimension where all beings are addicted to gladiator-like television programs. Ruled by Mojo and home to Longshot and the X-Babies. *The Negative Zone: Mostly uninhabited, it is a universe parallel to Earth's with many similarities. One major difference is all matter in the Negative Zone is negatively charged. Negative Zone Prison Alpha is located here. Also the home of Blastaar and Annihilus. *'Otherplace:' Also known as "Limbo" or "Demonic Limbo", A magical dimension of demons which were historically ruled by Belasco and was primarily featured in X-Men comics. *'The Panoptichron:' a place which allows to monitor and go to any reality within the Marvel Megaverse, if not the Ominverse. *'The Void:' A pocket dimension that exists inside Shaman's medicine bag. *'The Soul Gem:' A pocket dimension that exists inside the green infinity gem. *'The Randomverse:' A universe where the "Marvel/DC" parody takes place. References *''Marvel Encyclopedia Volume 6: Fantastic Four'' (November 2004) *''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005'' *''Marvel Legacy: The 1960s Handbook'' (2006) *''Marvel Legacy: The 1970s Handbook'' (2006) *''Marvel Legacy: The 1980s Handbook'' (2006) *''Marvel Legacy: The 1990s Handbook'' (2007) DC Universe The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternate versions of characters and their histories without contradicting and/or permanently altering the official continuity. The number of alternate universes used by the Multiverse construct has varied over the years due to DC Comics' policy of using or abandoning the concept at various points in its publishing history. After the publication of Infinite Crisis and 52, the Multiverse is again being used in print by DC Comics and consists of fifty-two alternate universes which are referred to by their Roman numeric designations of the alternate Earths within them ("New Earth", "Earth-1", "Earth-2", "Earth-3", etc.). The numeric designation is used to distinguish the newer fictional Multiverse from the previous one, whose alternate universes used spelled-out numeric designations, such as "Earth-One", "Earth-Two", and "Earth-Three", instead. Pre-Crisis Although DC Comics continued publishing from the 1930s through the 1950s, the Golden Age of Comic Books had come to a close in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and most superhero comic books had ceased publication. The only superhero features to survive without long interruptions from the Golden Age to the present were Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow. In 1956, DC's Showcase comics provided a starting point for the new Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen. It was firmly established in the Flash's first appearance that the Golden Age Flash was a comic-book character within the DC universe, whose fictional exploits inspired Barry Allen to take on the name. With the success of this character, more Golden Age characters' names were reused with new heroes, often having new costumes, identities or powers, such as Green Lantern, the Atom, and Hawkman. In order to facilitate crossovers between heroes from the (main) DC Universe and the Golden Age (which was supposed to be comics in the main universe), an explanation was provided in one story that resonance from parallel worlds can be detected by some people who go on to write stories based upon the information they are receiving. The first parallel universe was introduced in 1953 in Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #59, in which Wonder Woman fell through a space-time warp and encountered her double, whose name, Terra Terruna, translated as Wonder Woman. After battling the villain Duke Dazam, Wonder Woman returned home. The parallel universe concept was not used again until Wonder Woman #89 (April 1957), which featured an alternate Earth where crime predominated. The second was "Magic-Land", an alternate Earth where magic, instead of science, was the dominant force in the world. However, its existence has been ignored in current DC multiverse continuity. It appeared in Gardner Fox's "Secret of the Sinister Sorcerers", Justice League of America (vol. 1) #2. The story "Flash of Two Worlds" appeared in The Flash (vol. 1) #123 and established the Multiverse concept. In the story, the Barry Allen version of the Flash uses his powers of super-speed vibration to climb a rope suspended in mid-air and vibrates from Earth-One to Earth-Two where he meets Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash. Each universe's Earth has its own set of superheroes, with their own unique characteristics and life histories. In several cases, characters from other publishers acquired by DC, previously established within a fictional universe of their own, have been incorporated into the Multiverse in various alternate universes. Star Hunters #7 (October 1978), by David Micheline, Bob Layton, and Rich Buckler contains one of the first anecdotal mentions of the multiverse in a DC Comics title, including the term "Multiverse", and offers a description of multiple co-existing parallel Earths. It also describes an ancient war between the forces of light and dark using agents scattered across multiple universes. ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' : To celebrate its 50th anniversary, DC Comics published in 1985 the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths. The series featured appearances by nearly every DC Comics character published and told a story that allowed the company at the end of the series to reboot its entire comics line with a story that featured a cosmic battle ending with the recreation of the comics universe from the dawn of time with a single universe. The end result was that DC could launch a new era with a reinvention of its major character franchises, such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, with a fresh, modern take. One by one, a villain known as the Anti-Monitor destroyed several alternate universes. Heroes of the last five universes (Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X) along with a handful of survivors from other universes (Pariah, Lady Quark, Alexander Luthor, Jr.) held off the destruction of the last five universes long enough to defeat the Anti-Monitor. Those last five remaining universes were editorially merged into a single universe with its own history that combined elements of all five, along with completely new elements. For example, there was a Flash named Jay Garrick who was a member of the Justice Society during the 1940s, and another Flash named Barry Allen was a member of the Justice League decades later, but there was only one Superman, who had a modified history, different in some respects from both the Earth-One and the Earth-Two versions. Several pre-Crisis characters (most importantly the Kara Zor-El Supergirl and Barry Allen Flash) were killed during Crisis on Infinite Earths, and as a result were either erased from history (in Supergirl's case) or simply proclaimed dead (Barry Allen) in the new singular universe. Wonder Woman was thought to have been slain in the final issue, but was revealed to have been thrown backwards through time, reverting back to the clay from which she was formed. This set the stage for her reintroduction into the reformed DC Universe and the relaunch of the Wonder Woman comic, helmed by George Perez. Other characters and concepts, such as Streaky the Supercat, Comet the Super-Horse and the Space Canine Patrol Agents, vanished without explanation. Post-Crisis Although the Multiverse concept was eliminated after the publication of Crisis, several comics published after it made various references to it. A story in Animal Man by Grant Morrison referred to the Multiverse, with its effects coming undone as comic books, along with characters who no longer or never had existed emerging from the Psycho-Pirate’s mask inside Arkham Asylum . Keith Giffen's Ambush Bug demonstrated an awareness of the events in Crisis in his various mini-series, in which it was referred to as "Crisis on the only Earth we're still allowed to use." The Books of Magic series, published under the Vertigo label but set in the DC Universe, had a storyline by Peter Gross (beginning in The Books of Magic #51) in which a Timothy Hunter from a parallel universe travelled from universe to universe, killing and absorbing the powers of his alternate selves. Elseworlds Although DC maintained that the other Earths no longer existed, during the 1990s they published occasional one-shots and mini-series labeled "Elseworlds", featuring alternate versions of their characters— a practice that was consistent with the concept of a Multiverse. DC officially classified these as stories that perhaps "could have" happened but had not actually occurred . Some one-shots and limited series without the "Elseworlds" label, such as Frank Miller's reimagining of DC heroes and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, also diverged from established continuity, or in the case of The Dark Knight Returns, have had continuity diverge from them. More recently, after the events of 52 re-established the Multiverse as part of DC continuity, many alternate worlds within the Multiverse and the characters that inhabit them are now based on stories that bore the "Elseworlds" label. Hypertime : In 1999, DC introduced Hypertime, which provided a conceptual framework to recognize both canonical and apocryphal stories, stating that all stories outside mainstream continuity happened in alternate timelines that had "branched out" and, in some cases, re-merged. Hypertime was a superset of the Multiverse, including not only all pre-Crisis stories set on alternate Earths, but any story set in any continuity. This concept was first referenced in The Kingdom, in which an image of what appeared to be the original Earth-Two Superman was shown. However, the concept has been subsequently used only a few times (most notably in story-arcs in the pages of The Flash and Superboy). According to Dan DiDio, Executive Vice President of DC Comics, Hypertime will not be featured in any future stories. Snowflake In Warren Ellis' Planetary series (and subsequently others from Wildstorm as well), the structure of the multiverse is described as a web of 196,833 universes arranged in a pattern resembling a snowflake, each universe separated from its neighbors by a medium called the Bleed . In the Batman/Planetary crossover, it is said that a "partial multiversal collapse" occurred in 1985, an oblique reference to Crisis on Infinite Earths, though at that time Wildstorm was not part of the DC multiverse. However, when the Wildstorm universe was integrated into the DC multiverse at about the time of Infinite Crisis, the Bleed was shown to lie between the 52 dimensions . ''Infinite Crisis'' In 2005, DC began Infinite Crisis, a DC Universe crossover and sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Stories leading up to the main limited series contained scattered references to the Multiverse, such as the Return of Donna Troy mini-series, in which the titular character Donna Troy returned from the dead and remembered the various origins of her alternate selves (such as her counterpart from Earth-Seven, who became her nemesis Dark Angel), and the Captain Atom: Armageddon mini-series, which had the main character being sent to the WildStorm Universe and inadvertenly causing its destruction and recreation. In the Infinite Crisis series itself, the Superman and Lois Lane of Earth-Two, the Superboy of Earth-Prime, and Alexander Luthor Jr. of Earth-Three—all survivors of the destruction of the original Multiverse—reappeared, and the former existence of the Multiverse was acknowledged. Earth-Two was recreated in issue #4, and the surviving heroes who originated from Earth-Two were transported there. In addition to this, worlds previously described only as "Imaginary Stories" or "Elseworlds" were revealed to be universes within the Multiverse, as shown by the presence of Superman Red and Superman Blue from the Silver Age imaginary story of the same name, Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. from the World's Finest stories of the 1970s, the Superman from the Elseworlds story Superman: Red Son, a world featuring Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman in Aztec garb, and a world featuring characters from the first Wonder Woman pilot as well as from the later Wonder Woman TV show alongside the original Teen Titans in a militaristic setting.Infinite Crisis #6 Eventually, Alexander's plan was circumvented when his equipment was destroyed by Superboy (Kon-El, a.k.a. Conner Kent), resulting in all Earths re-merging into "New Earth". The effects of this transformation were shown during the series 52 and in the "One Year Later" storyline. ''52'' In the DC Nation column printed in the back of Week 37, Dan DiDio revealed "the secret of 52" in a coded message. The message was spelled out using the first letter of every third word and said: "the secret of fifty-two is that the Multiverse still exists". In 52: Week 52, it was revealed that the Multiverse was recreated at the end of Infinite Crisis with the creation of fifty-two separate Earths, separated by different vibrational frequencies and each with their own histories. These Earths were initially identical to New Earth until they were altered by the intervention of Mister Mind. ''All Star Superman'' In the tenth issue of the out-of-continuity series, All Star Superman, Superman creates by himself a parallel universe called Earth-Q, to see if a world without a Superman, nor any superheroes, could work. It is revealed at the end of the issue that Earth-Q is "our" Earth, as Friedrich Nietzsche is seen creating his famous Übermensch, or "Superman", concept, and Joe Shuster is shown drawing the first modern Superman on the cover of ''Action Comics'' #1. Countdown and Final Crisis The yearlong series Countdown to Final Crisis, as well as the various Countdown spinoffs and Final Crisis lead-ins feature the multiverse extensively, as several characters traverse the multiverse in search of New Earth's Ray Palmer, while the event of Countdown: Arena involve the villain Monarch collecting various alternate versions of DC heroes and forcing them to fight in deathmatches to decide which ones to recruit in to his army. While Crisis on Infinite Earth showed the multiverse to be overseen by a single being known as The Monitor, Countdown, 52, and other titles have established that each of the 52 Earths has its own individual monitor. The events on Earth-51 tie directly in to the early issues of Final Crisis and involve the fate of one of the monitors, Nix Uotan. In Final Crisis, the multiverse is shown to be made of a cone-shaped "Orrery of Worlds", managed by the monitors. List of universes : Traditionally, the "numbered" Earths were spelled out as words rather than with numerals—e.g. "Earth-Two" not "Earth-2"—in part to avoid confusion between similar-looking numerals and letters in hand-lettered text. This convention was disregarded in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it became common practice to refer to the various Earths with numerals instead; however, Infinite Crisis reverted to the original practice while 52 and Countdown have referred to the alternate universe with numerals. After the first Crisis, several new universes appeared despite DC's intentions to the contrary. In addition, DC ran a number of crossovers with other companies that involved travel between different realities. Technically, none of these worlds were ever part of the Multiverse. A new Multiverse was revealed at the end of the 52 weekly limited series.Wizard Entertainment: ‘52’ ROUNDUP Week 52 Unlike the original Multiverse, which was composed of an infinite number of alternate universes, this Multiverse is composed of only fifty-two alternate universes, which are referred to as New Earth and Earths 1 through 51. The alternate universes were originally identical to New Earth and contained the same history and people until Mister Mind "devoured" portions of each Earth’s history, creating new, distinct Earths with their own histories and people, such as the Nazi-themed version of the Justice League that exists in Earth-10.Newsarama.com: WW: CHICAGO '07: DAN DIDIO ON COUNTDOWN: ARENA Each of the alternate universes have their own parallel dimensions, divergent timelines, microverses, etc, branching off them.Newsarama.com: BALTIMORE COMIC-CON 07: DC NATION PANEL REPORT Contact between universes Originally in the Pre-Crisis Multiverse, most inhabitants of these various Earths were completely unaware of the other universes, outside of the superpowered populace. The writers at DC Management changed this condition for the main Post Crisis Earth populace who are completely aware of the Multiverse as shown in Final Crisis #7. It is unclear if the populace of most of the alternate Earths of the Post Crisis 52 multiverse are also generally aware of other Earths, though many of the superpowered populace have been shown to be aware of, and interact, with these other Earths and their inhabitants. The first character recorded to cross the gap between these various Earths was in Pre Crisis reality (chronologically in continuity, not publishing order as this tale was revealed in the series All-Star Squadron in the 1980s) and done by Uncle Sam of Earth-Two, who accidentally crossed over into Earth-X. DC Comics' first published story involving travel between alternate universes was Wonder Woman's crossing into an unnamed parallel Earth, in Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #59 (1953). Barry Allen, the Flash of Earth-One became the first recorded individual during the Silver Age to visit another Earth, accidentally vibrating at just the right speed to appear on Earth-Two, where he met Jay Garrick, his Earth-Two counterpart. Other characters with super-speed powers have been able to duplicate the trick, but it has not been done routinely. Magic and technological devices have done the job as well. The Justice League of America's "transmatter" device (ordinarily used to transport between their satellite headquarters and the ground), was pressed into service for annual events in which the League and some of their counterparts on other Earths faced a universe-crossing "crisis" of one sort or another. Wonder Woman's invisible jet was also shown to be able to vibrate her across the multiversal barrier (Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #300), and she also crossed over when her magic lasso was struck by lightning (Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #59). Superman could travel to other Earths at will while Captain Marvel used the magical Rock of Eternity that granted him access to any of the Earths. Writers have occasionally put characters from different Earths together in the same story without explanation, a continuity error often cited as a reason for eliminating the Multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths or as an extension of "Earth-B" (cited by DC staff as the setting for team-up stories told in The Brave and the Bold which did not always conform to established continuity for Earth-One, or any other established Earth). For instance, one such story featured Catwoman committing murder, which neither the Earth-One nor Earth-Two versions would ever do as it was strictly against either character's moral code.Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #171, Comic Book Resources, September 4, 2008 Earth-616, Marvel's main universe, is typically acknowledged as being part of a different multiverse entirely; in the JLA/Avengers crossover, even after the barriers between Earth-616 and the post-Crisis DC Earth had been deliberately weakened, it was incredibly hard to make the voyage. Print collections Contact between the universes (or stories set on the other Earths) have been reprinted in the following graphic novels: Other versions Teen Titans Go #48 introduces its own Multiverse. Each world pays references to various incarnation of the Teen Titans. The worlds shown: * The majority of the story is set on a world which is menaced by the Teen Tyrants (Evil Teen Titans), and is defended by The Brotherhood of Justice (Heroic versions of the Brotherhood of Evil). Similar to Earth-3. * Malchior's (from the Teen Titan episode "Spellbound") homeworld. * A world similar to the past from the Teen Titans episode "Cyborg The Barbarian". * A world containing the teen Lobo. * A world consisting of the animalistic Teen Titans (from the Teen Titans episode "Bunny Raven"). * Another future timeline with Nightwing (from the Teen Titans episode "How Long Is Forever"). * A world consisting of the Chibi Titans. * A world in which the Teen Titans (as depicted in the Silver Age comics) consist of Robin, Speedy, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and Kid Flash. * The home of Larry the Titan. * A futuristic world where the Teen Titans consist of Nightwing (a vampirish version, based on Dagon of the Team Titans), Battalion (who resembles Cyborg), Mirage (who resembles Raven), and Killowat Parodies *Bongo Comics published a comic book series featuring characters from Simpsons and Futurama titled Futurama/Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis. One of the conventions of DC's multiverse that the series parodies is the existence of one universe's characters as fictional comic book characters in another. Other media The Super Friends have had crossovers with other universes; in the episode "Universe of Evil", a freak accident causes Superman to switch places with his evil counterpart. The DC animated universe (DCAU) has depicted the Multiverse. Several characters from the main DCAU have visited parallel universes that were similar to the DCAU: *In the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Brave New Metropolis", Lois Lane fell into a parallel Earth where Superman and Lex Luthor had taken over Metropolis, turning it into a fascist police-state. *In the Justice League episode "Legends", several members of the League were accidentally sent to a parallel universe where John Stewart's comic-book idols, a pastiche of the Justice Society of America named the Justice Guild of America, live. One member of the Justice Guild hypothesized that there are an infinite number of parallel dimensions. *In the Justice League episode "A Better World", the Justice League were held captive by their authoritarian counterparts from another universe, the "Justice Lords". In this universe, Lex Luthor had risen to the U.S. Presidency, and had started a war which had killed the Flash, sparking the Lords' takeover of the world. (Later in the series, the regular Lex Luthor ran for President solely to enrage Superman.) *In the Justice League Unlimited episode "Question Authority", the Question is surfing through Cadmus's files on a computer, one of the files is titled "Multiverse". In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the show's primary protagonists, Lois Lane and Clark Kent, encountered an alternate version Clark Kent from a parallel universe on episodes "Tempus, Anyone?" and "Lois & Clarks." In episode "Tempus, Anyone?", in that dimension, Clark Kent had not assume the identity of Superman and was engaged to Lana Lang, Lois Lane had been lost on assignment in the Congo, and Jonathan and Martha Kent have died when Clark was a child. At the Daily Planet, Jimmy Olsen owns the newspaper and Perry White's campaign manager for his mayoral election. The primary version of the Lois, who was abducted by the villain Tempus and took her to this dimension, helped the alternate Clark becomes Superman, only to have Tempus expose his secret identity to the world on television. Despite of Clark's alien origin, the world embraces him as their champion. The alternate Clark later arrives to Lois's dimension to aid her stopping Tempus while the Clark Kent of her world is trapped in a time vortex on episode "Lois & Clarks." After Tempus's defeat, it is implied that the alternate Clark would travel to the past with H.G. Wells and take his world's Lois Lane to his own time thus explaining her disappearance. In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, a kind of "multiverse" is referenced in the episodes "Deep Cover for Batman!" and "Game Over for Owlman!", which feature several references to alternate incarnations of DC comics heroes and villains, including Batman and Owlman, respectively. Original multiverse Cataloged Traditionally, the "numbered" Earths were spelled out as words rather than with numerals—e.g. "Earth-Two" not "Earth-2"—in part to avoid confusion between similar-looking numerals and letters in hand-lettered text. This convention was disregarded in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it became common practice to refer to the various Earths with numerals instead. Infinite Crisis reverted to the original practice, but 52 and Countdown have referred to the alternate universes with numerals. Unclassified Various other Earths were arguably depicted in DC's substantial publishing output during the period in which the Multiverse was in effect. Some Earths have been posited to explain (for example) the Super Friends (based on the TV series). On yet another conjectured Earth-Crossover, the Silver Age DC Comics heroes lived side-by-side with the Silver Age Marvel Comics heroes, and it is on this alternate Earth where various team-ups and battles between the two publishers' heroes have occurred over the years. Some of these could instead be categorized using the "imaginary story" identifier which DC occasionally applied to stories they didn't wish to be considered part of continuity, especially before the invention of the Multiverse. After the first Crisis, several new universes appeared despite DC's intentions to the contrary. These included parallel universes in the Darkstars and Justice League series. In addition, DC ran a number of crossovers with other companies that involved travel between different realities. Technically, none of these worlds were ever part of the Multiverse. This was until Infinite Crisis retroactively labeled the Tangent Comics universe and many Elseworlds as Earths of the Multiverse, even though they had been published long after the Multiverse was destroyed. Infinite Crisis did the same with many Pre-Crisis Imaginary Tales. In the "With A Vengeance!" storyline in Superman/Batman, the Multiverse is visited by Bizarro and Batzarro. The Joker and Mr. Mxyzptlk summon Batmen and Supermen from various realities, both previously established worlds as well as unexplored ones. The 52 A new Multiverse was revealed at the end of the 52 weekly limited series. – Scholar search}} Unlike the original Multiverse, which was composed of an infinite number of alternate universes, this Multiverse is composed of a determinated number of alternate universes, which were originally referred to as New Earth and Earths 1 through 51, although erroneously in Tangent: Superman's Reign #1, New Earth is referred to as Earth-1; however, in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1, New Earth is instead designated Earth-0. Dan Didio has since explicitly denied that New Earth is Earth-1.CBR News: FAN EXPO: A Guide to Your DC Universe The alternate universes were originally identical to New Earth and contained the same history and people until Mister Mind "devoured" portions of each Earth’s history, creating new, distinct Earths with their own histories and people, such as the Nazi-themed version of the Justice League that exists in Earth-10. Each of the alternate universes have their own parallel dimensions, divergent timelines, microverses, etc, branching off them. The Guardians of the Universe serve as protectors of the new Multiverse. Each universe within the Multiverse is separated by a Source Wall, behind which Anti-Life keeps the universes apart. The Bleed permeates the Anti-Life in unpredictable places behind the Source Wall, allowing for transport between the universes. The destruction of New Earth would set off a chain reaction that would destroy the other fifty-one alternate universes at the same time, leaving only the Antimatter Universe in existence. As a consequence of Alexander Luthor's attempts to recreate the Multiverse, fifty-two new Monitors were created to oversee the fifty-two universes created afterwards. The Monitors seek to protect the Multiverse from people who crossover from one alternate universe to another, through the Bleed or through innate ability, who the Monitors have labeled "anomalies".Countdown #51 A partial list of some of the alternate universes that make up the new Multiverse was revealed in late November 2007.The same list was published in two places: at Newsarama.com on November 26 2007, http://forum.newsarama.com/showpost.php?p=4776505&postcount=1, and in the "DC Nation" editor's note page at the end of Countdown to Infinite Crisis #22 (November 28, 2007) Real World Universe Real world Universes and time periods are based on Earth. While this can include alternate versions of Earth, the time period distinction is usually the same. Dionysian "Common Era" The era based on the Incarnation of Christ was introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in 525 and is in continued use with various reforms and derivations. The distinction between the Incarnation being the conception or the Nativity of Jesus was not drawn until the late ninth century.Blackburn & Holford-Strevens. (1999, 2003). Glossary s. v. Incarnation era. The beginning of the numbered year varied from place to place; when, in 1600, Scotland adopted January 1 as the date the year number changes, this was already normal in continental Europe. England adopted this practice in 1752.Blackburn & Holford-Strevens. (1999, 2003). p. 7 * A.D. (or AD) — for the Latin Anno Domini, meaning "in the year of (our) Lord". This is the dominant or Western Christian Era; AD is used in the Gregorian calendar. Anno Salutis, meaning "in the year of salvation" is identical to this era. Originally intended to number years from the Incarnation of Jesus, in fact the calculation was a few years off. Traditionally, years preceding AD 1 are numbered using the BC era, avoiding zero or negative numbers. AD was also used in the medieval Julian calendar as well, but the first day of the year was either March 1, Easter, March 25, September 1, or December 25, not January 1. To distinguish between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, O.S. and N.S. were often added to the date, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries, when both calendars were in common use. Old Style (O.S.) was used for the Julian calendar and for years not beginning on January 1. New Style (N.S.) was used for the Gregorian calendar and for Julian calendar years beginning on January 1. Many countries switched to using January 1 as the start of the numbered year when switching from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, but others switched earlier or later. *B.C. (or BC) — Before Christ. Used for years prior to AD 1, counting backwards so the year n BC is the year 1-n AD. Using these two calendar eras as historians use them means that there is no year 0 or negative year numbers. *C.E. (or CE) — meaning "Common Era", equivalent to the Anno Domini era. This use is similar to that of the Era Vulgaris (or EV) used in the past. B.C.E. (or BCE) — meaning "Before the Common Era". Equivalent to B.C. Dionysian-derived * Astronomical year numbering equates its year 0 with 1 BC, and counts negative years from 2 BC backward (−1 backward), so 100 BC is −99. * The Holocene calendar proposed by Cesare Emiliani placed its year 1 at 10,000 BC. * Anno Lucis of Freemasonry adds 4000 years to the AD year. Other Universes Other universes usually include life found on other planets, or other dimensions. Source